


Basic Business Management (The Career Calibration)

by Lauren (notalwaysweak)



Category: Community (TV), The Big Bang Theory (TV)
Genre: Community: intoabar, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-02
Updated: 2013-12-02
Packaged: 2018-01-03 06:20:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1067099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notalwaysweak/pseuds/Lauren
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Penny walks into a bar, and meets Shirley Bennett. Written for intoabar 2013.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Basic Business Management (The Career Calibration)

**Author's Note:**

> Neither The Big Bang Theory nor Community characters belong to me.
> 
> Betaed by halfeatenmoon, with thanks.
> 
> * * *

Penny screeches into work only five minutes late, which, hey, at least has to break some kind of record. She glances left, glances right, doesn’t see her boss, takes a step toward the bar, and promptly bounces straight off a big black woman.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry,” she says automatically.

“That’s okay!” The woman does a double take. “Oh, you’re bright red! Are you all right?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, I just had to run from down the street, I couldn’t find a spot.” Penny catches a glimpse of herself in the mirror behind the bar. She _is_ red, and her hair’s a mess, and she’s managed to only mascara one eye. 

“What on Earth makes you need a drink so badly at this time of the afternoon?”

“Oh! Oh, I’m not here to drink” – that she’ll admit – “it’s the start of my shift, I’m here to work.”

“In that case, you go on ahead of me, and I’ll have a white wine.” The woman smiles widely, and Penny can’t help but smile back, even though she’s flustered and mildly miffed at taking orders before she even has her apron on. 

*** 

Half an hour later, Shirley’s onto her second glass of wine even though she’s been sipping delicately. Penny is rinsing and drying glasses while Shirley talks. Turns out she’s in the area checking out real estate for her sandwich business, which has expanded from a storefront in her community college’s cafeteria into a slowly growing retail chain.

It’s nice. It makes Penny think that there could be hope for her yet.

There are a few other people grabbing snacks or starting in on their drinks but, as a general rule, four-thirty on a Tuesday afternoon is not the Cheesecake Factory’s busiest time. So when Penny pours Shirley’s third drink, she decides that a little taste for herself is not unconscionable.

“I don’t usually drink,” Shirley says as Penny passes her refill over. “I used to have... issues.”

_Oh boy_ , thinks Penny, downing her own miniscule serving in seconds. “I could cut you off,” she offers half-heartedly. Shirley is the most interesting thing about the place at the moment, given that the boys aren’t due in for another hour and a half and watching Leonard choose between the three dairy-free items on the menu isn’t exactly the most fascinating of pastimes.

“I don’t think that will be necessary.” Shirley sips her wine. Relieved, Penny refills her own glass, just in case. “So what do you do at community college, Penny?”

“Oh, I, uh, a mixture of things... I did some history, some psychology... I was considering criminology, maybe, if I can get into it.”

“I made some of the best friends of my life at community college. Do you have a study group? You should have a study group. _Everyone_ should have a study group.”

“I do have some study buddies, I guess,” Penny says. “And a boyfriend who likes to try to help.”

Shirley is clearly holding back from rolling her eyes. “That’s nice. What I like about my group is that they’re so supportive of everything I do, even when I made the leap from student to businesswoman.” 

“About that... was it hard?” 

Shirley’s eyes light up. “Oh, no. At least, not since I’d taken some excellent business and marketing courses.”

“Uh-huh.” Penny fishes under the counter for her copy of the Pasadena Community College course guide, in which she’s been making notes for next year. “Does anything in here look useful?”

***

Sheldon clears his throat at her for the third time. 

“Sheldon, I’m busy.” 

“You’re our _waitress_. You’re meant to be waiting tables.” 

Penny gives him a lofty, only slightly tipsy look. “I happen to be planning out my future with the help of my new course advisor, Shirley.”

“Hello!” Shirley chirps. 

“That’s really cool,” Leonard says warily. “But you know how Sheldon gets when he hasn’t eaten.” 

Penny scoots out from behind the bar, preceding them to their usual table, making a note of their usual drinks order, and waiting patiently while Leonard ponders his dinner choice from the usual three lactose-free options on the menu. 

_Tomorrow_ , she resolves, thinking of business management and Penny Blossoms. _No, tonight. I’ll enroll online tonight. Then I can’t get out of it._  

She’s tired of usual. It’s time for unusual.

***

**_One year later_ **

  
“Duck!” 

Penny goes flat to her stomach, elbow-crawls to the corner of the corridor, and extends the mirror on its stick from her sleeve. A pellet whizzes just above it and explodes harmlessly against the floor; Penny whips her rifle around the corner and pulls the trigger blind, hearing a cry of disgust as someone gets hit.

She wasn’t expecting paintball to feature quite so heavily in her college life, but maybe she shouldn’t be surprised after the number of times she got drafted to join the Caltech team. 

Penny goes around the corner, fast and low, Carlotta hot on her heels. She shoots low, Carlotta high, and they clear the corridor, Penny waving at the others to catch up. A clunking overhead indicates that Jared and Roy are on pace with them, ready for the pincer maneuver they have planned to take the chemistry lab. Aimee’s carrying the bag of marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers, and they’re just looking for a Bunsen burner.

Shirley was right about making friends. She still loves her boys and Amy and Bernie -- and, well, tolerates Howard -- but Aimee, Roy, Jared, Hayley and Carlotta are an amazing group. She has to confess that she’s glad that Cornelius didn’t stick around, but Aimee in particular keeps saying they should give him a second chance. 

Right now, though, there’s no time for second chances. 

As she aims and fires and takes down the weird guy with the French-braided goatee, she knows there’s not even time for _first_ chances. 

Not when s’mores are on the line.


End file.
